Unexpected Character / DuckTales (2017)

DuckTales (2017)

Unexpected Character in this series.

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• A combination Wham Shot and Wham Line from the end of the two-part premiere reveals that Della Duck, Donald's sister and the mother of Huey, Dewey and Louie is going to be important in this series. The final scene of season 1 even reveals that Della is alive. In all other media involving the triplets, their mother is absent and barely mentioned in dialogue or flashbacks. So Della becoming a major character in the second half of season 2 and the following season 3 was a bit of a shock to fans familiar with the Disney Ducks Comic Universe.

  Dewey: ...Mom?!

• The Season 3 poster revealed at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 revealed a whole slew of Unexpected Characters including the entire Rescue Rangers team, Goofy in his Goof Troop-outfit, an older Kit Cloudkicker and Molly Cunningham, Gosalyn Mallard, Daisy Duck, Gene the Genie and even a Wuzzle!
• The season 1 episode "The Secret(s) Of Castle McDuck!" involves the shocking reveal that Scrooge's parents are still alive in this continuity. "The Fight For Castle McDuck!" in season 3 adds Scrooge's sister Matilda, who actually is still alive in the comics, but is only really used by Don Rosa (who of course had an influence on the whole series).
• Darkwing Duck is portrayed as a Show Within a Show in season 1. The season 2 episode "The Duck Knight Returns!" then introduces us to actor Drake Mallard - Darkwing's Secret Identity in the original series who later takes on the mantle of Darkwing himself. The end of the episode also sees Darkwing's original Jim Starling actor taking a dark path, becoming this continuity´s version of Negaduck.
• The Season 1 episode "Sky Pirates In The Sky!" has Don Karnage and his crew of Sky Pirates from the originally unrelated show TaleSpin as the villains.
• Unexpected item: "From the Confidential Casefiles of Agent 22!" not only introduces S.H.U.S.H. and F.O.W.L. to the series, which despite debuting in the original DuckTales-series are much more tied to Darkwing Duck, but also features a liquid created by an ancient race which clearly is the Gummiberry Juice of Adventures of the Gummi Bears, another originally unrelated animated series of The Disney Afternoon.
• Season 2 features both Donald's cousin Fethry Duck and his Neighbor Jones, reimagined as an anger management therapist, two characters from the Disney Ducks Comic Universe. They are far more well-known and popular outside of the U.S. in Europe and Brazil, so their making their debut in animation was a welcome surprise for many comic book fans.
• Season 2 also introduces popular characters José Carioca and Panchito Pistoles from The Three Caballeros to the franchise, taking on the role of Donald's old college friends, with "The Three Caballeros" being the name of their band.
• The episode "The Richest Duck in the World!" brings us a surprising reintroduction; Bombie the Zombie, a Voodoo Zombie with unfriendly-to-modern-day-standards connotations from an old Carl Barks comic, now reimagined as "The Bombie", a Revenant Zombie that chases after the richest person in the world.
• At the end of the Season 2 Finale "Moonvasion", Scrooge's Board of Directors are revealed to be the High Command of F.O.W.L. this whole time. And they're with other members of F.O.W.L., including Gandra Dee, Jeeves (Who is holding a block of ice preserving John D. Rockerduck), Black Heron, and of course Steelbeak. The biggest surprise of them all though is the previously seemingly harmless Funzo's mascot...who is immediately revealed to actually be THE PHANTOM BLOT!!!
• While Goofy's appearance was revealed by the season 3 poster (see above), many wondered if this would mean his son Max Goof might appear as well. He does, but is only shown in pictures - the pictures surprisingly also feature Max' best friend P.J. and his movie love interest Roxanne.
• In the Season 3 episode/Darkwing Duck crossover "Let's Get Dangerous!", we get treated to a couple of surprising cameos, including Solego, Fluppy Dogs, and even Bonkers D. Bobcat, the latter of which gets beaten up by Darkwing's rogues gallery. And speaking of his rogues gallery, we also get the return of Bushroot, who wasn't even hinted at being a part of the In-Universe "Darkwing Duck" TV show until now.
• The series finale revealed that Manny the Headless Man-Horse was in fact this continuity's counterpart to Goliath, of all beings, complete with Keith David voicing him again! This was a complete curveball, given that while Gargoyles was a part of the Disney Afternoon, the show's Darker and Edgier tone and worldbuilding of its own — including humans — definitely couldn't be melded into the continuity like with the other shows.
• Ludwig von Drake was only portrayed in flashbacks and with his heirs making an appearance in season 2, many jumped to the conclusion that this von Drake is a Posthumous Character, but he actually shows up in the series finale, still alive.